A significant market is under development for compact communication devices combining cellular (or other wireless) telephones with a limited-function computer. An early example of this class of devices being called “personal communicators” is the IBM/Bell-South “SIMON.” In its present form, the SIMON adds a relatively small computer (8086-class, moving to 80386-class), plus a backlit, touch-sensitive display to a cellular telephone. This combination of computer, wireless communication, and enabling software creates a powerful productivity tool, which allows a single device to provide wireless telephony functions, personal information management (e.g., electronic calendar and address/phone number listings), as well as two-way wireless transfer of digital data.
Some of the limitations of these devices have heretofore included the difficulty of viewing the data display while communicating over the phone, the weight and fragility of the relatively large LCD display, the relatively high power required for the back-lit monochrome display, and the even higher cost and power to provide a color display. Further limitations have also included size and human-factor design issues, the ability of the user to manipulate a device with minimal effort, and the preference of a user for easily viewing a display akin to that a user may be accustomed to in a typical office environment. Additionally, users may have difficulty adapting to viewing a display that is substantially smaller than the view they may be accustomed to from their fixed desktop display units.
Furthermore, the touch- and stylus-based user interfaces generally require two hands to operate and preclude the simultaneous use of the phone handset and the computer functions, except in a speaker-phone mode where the user would have to speak to the unit while holding it in front of him. While speech-based operation will be added to these devices in the future, a practical speech-based user interface still requires the user to see a display during use, since the user needs to see the set of allowable selections (the menu items), while for dictation mode, the user would like to see the progress of the speech-to-text translation.
As an alternative to SIMON-like designs that make it difficult to utilize the phone handset in the normal, private (non-speaker-phone) mode while also viewing the display, it has been suggested that the personal communicator should be fashioned like a pair of glasses or goggles, with a view-finder “projection” display and a speaker and microphone all built into the “frames” of the headset. While this interaction paradigm may eventually become common and widely accepted (probably by today's video-game generation), it is not as natural or convenient for the user who frequently needs to make a quick phone call or needs to just briefly check some e-mail. Similarly, such a design does not achieve the nimbleness or convenience often desired in a professional environment, be it mobile or fixed.
Another possible alternative is to make a SIMON-like device where the display ran be detached from the unit and held in the front of the user by the hand opposite the one holding the phone. An infrared or other wireless link between the phone and the display would allow data coming over the main handset to be relayed to the display. Although this design does allow simultaneous viewing/talking, it requires two hands for simple operation and makes pointing or selecting an item from the display a difficult (possibly three-handed) operation.
Therefore, a need exists for a personal communication device with both a direct-view display on the device and a projection display view orientation permitting the user to view the device's display as though the display were a “full screen” display.